Chapter 382: Chapter 103: Trip to Japan (1)

The tabloids’ favorite thing is these gossip stories because gossip means they can freely embellish under the guise of “possible” and “speculative” labels, which also means increased income. As for whether it will have any negative impact on the parties involved, that’s not within their consideration. After all, why would celebrities be confused with ordinary people just because of the saying “celebrities are people too”?

So, various versions of the love triangle quickly appeared in the tabloids. Although “The Mask” was produced by Bossworth, its connection with Adrian wasn’t very deep–at least not as deep as Blanchett’s in “Speed”–and his closest relationship within the cast was actually with Jim Carrey. Plus, the focus of “My Best Friend’s Wedding” was on Adrian and Julia, and the lines like “according to sources close to the matter” were all for deflecting responsibility in fabricating stories. Therefore, the initial version didn’t have much credibility.

Moreover, Cameron Diaz herself was rather clever in her ambiguous response to reporters, “He’s a charming man, very handsome. I would love to date him if he ever asks me out.” Although some tabloids immediately claimed she was showing love to the Miracle Director, it also effortlessly debunked the rumors of the love triangle. That was also why Adrian didn’t mind having a friendly match with Cameron. Even though the woman was promiscuous, she understood her place and knew what she could or couldn’t do. After all, it’s always better to have a woman with discernment for a friendly match.

But tabloids are tabloids after all, their ability to concoct stories is first class. As the rumors of the love triangle faded, they instantly fabricated another angle. The most plausible version suggested that the role of Cameron in the love triangle was actually someone else. Adrian had used his own experiences as inspiration for “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and even cast Julia as the female lead!

So who was this other woman? What did Adrian want to tell Julia? Who did he choose in the end? The buzz generated more heated discussions, as people excitedly debated these gossips.

Unfortunately, the situation didn’t last long because a few days later, a piece of news stole most people’s attention–the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 68th Oscar Awards! The movie “Braveheart,” directed and produced by Adrian, secured ten nominations, and they were all very significant ones.

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress–just these four awards were enough to astonish, not to mention nominations for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and more. Although the original version also got ten nominations, it didn’t include Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress but did get Best Makeup and Best Cinematography.

Adrian was also surprised by these changes. He had put a lot of effort through his team’s PR to secure Sophie’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Although she performed fairly well in “Braveheart,” her getting a nomination was still a stretch, let alone winning. However, Kevin Spacey’s nomination for Best Actor came very naturally–he simply applied and then got it.

Upon reflection, it wasn’t so surprising. In any case, Best Director always carries more weight than Best Actor, as evidenced by the award sequence where Best Director is always second to last. So Mel Gibson’s complete relinquishment of the Best Actor in pursuit of Best Director made sense as his directorial skills weren’t outstanding and, to put it exaggeratedly, depended largely on the extremely emotional last cry for “freedom.”

Yet, this version was different; the director and lead actor were separated, Adrian had revised some of the overly unreasonable plots, and there were fewer continuity errors. Also, Russell Crowe’s acting in the film was indeed better than Mel Gibson’s, so his nomination was well-deserved.

Given his memories from a previous life, Adrian intended to somewhat admonish Russell but didn’t expect that he would end up with a nomination for Best Actor. Although Russell had always been respectful to him and had called to thank him after getting the nomination, there was no need to do so right away–after all, he could only get one nomination.

Once the nomination list was released, it provoked countless debates. Last year, Adrian became the youngest ever to win Best Director at the Oscars for “Forrest Gump,” and he also has the record for the youngest Best Director nominee. Could it be possible for him to win Best Director again this year and break the record for the youngest back-to-back Best Director?

“Even if he does win Best Director again, it wouldn’t be surprising. The Miracle Director always knows how to please the Oscar jury. He would disregard anything for the Oscars,” wrote a British media outlet sarcastically, their tone laced with bitterness. Although the debates over “Braveheart” had quieted after much contention, the British couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.

Of course, no one cared about their complaints except for that statement in the middle, the “Miracle Director” did indeed have a knack for catching the Oscar’s taste. “Braveheart” goes without saying, and there were quite a few nominations related to Adrian on that list.

Nicholas Cage, Elizabeth Su, and Simon Stone received nominations respectively for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director for “Leaving Las Vegas,” while Kevin Spacey got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for “The Usual Suspects,” which also received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. That meant Adrian had two nominations in the Best Original Screenplay category?! It’s true he had participated in writing both screenplays, but this…

“Are you saying that anything he touches gets favored by the Oscars? I’m more inclined to believe he’s bought off the Film Academy!” Executives from the major film companies complained and moaned after the nomination list came out.

The media couldn’t help but join in the fray, half-jokingly writing whether Adrian had truly bought the Oscars.

The Film Academy was also frustrated; they had followed procedures strictly in all their selection processes, and even if there were influences by public relations, everything was within the rules. Besides, it was just nominations, not the actual award ceremony yet.

“It’s quite simple, if someone else can create as many quality films and achieve such surprising results, they too can receive recognition. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is fair,” said the then-chair in response to the journalists.

That was indeed the case; over the years, Adrian’s accomplishments were clear for everyone to see. While it couldn’t be said that there would be no one like him in the future, there had certainly been no one like him in the past. However, when journalists wanted to contact the “Miracle Director” for another interview, they were informed that Adrian was currently not in Los Angeles, and of course, they wouldn’t let them know where he went.

As the plane smoothly docked at the gate, the cabin announcement came on immediately. Adrian opened his eyes, looking somewhat tiredly outside where the sun had not yet completely set, leaving a dim afterglow on the horizon. He couldn’t help but yawn; despite being somewhat immune to jet lag due to his frequent travel between the United States and the United Kingdom, the long-haul flight over the Pacific still took its toll on him.

“Dan, time to get up,” Adrian turned his head and called out to Dennis Knight, who was seated behind him, while letting out a sigh internally.

Initially, he had intended to bring his lady along, but each of them had their own matters to attend to; Kate was busy looking after her daughter and preparing for a new movie, Monica had already returned to Italy for a few days, Gwyneth, Blanchett, Liv, Rachel, and Zetajones were all still working, and Sarah had just agreed to go on a trip with her mother.

Julia did have some free time, but she declined the invitation: “I want to rest, and there’s Emma to take care of as well.”

With her current style of occasionally showing small tantrums to assert her uniqueness, it was obviously an excuse. Yet, seeing her standing tall and proud, she wouldn’t agree even if she was called out, so Adrian had no choice but to give up. Alright, even if all of them were busy, at least Charlize was around, but to his surprise, she decided to take a vacation.

“I’ve never really taken a proper vacation before,” she said with a very serious expression.

Adrian felt like rolling his eyes out of exasperation. It’s true that Charlize had always been by his side, but she wasn’t there all the time; sometimes, when he needed to go to New York or some other place alone, Charlize was essentially on vacation. However, Charlize was well aware of this fact, so she kept emphasizing the word “proper” in her tone.

“You’re going on a vacation anyway,” Charlize said, chin lifted, with a smile that was not quite a smile on her face when Adrian wanted to continue persuading her.

Clearly, she had made up her mind not to go with him, and Adrian had no choice. In the end, he not only didn’t bring a woman, but he found himself with an extra man by his side.

“Are we already in Japan?” Dennis rubbed his eyes, waking from a deep sleep, feeling groggy from sleeping too soundly.

The reason he ended up following Adrian to Japan was mainly because there was a fire in his backyard that he couldn’t put out after many efforts, and he was quite troubled when he heard Adrian lament that he was going to Japan but had no friends to accompany him. Dennis immediately offered to go with him. Adrian had only made a casual remark, but unexpectedly, Dennis emerged and, unable to refuse and having indirectly heard about his troubles, he eventually agreed.

Ever since he had shouldered the responsibility, although at first many people criticized him, his popularity actually increased quite a bit. Still, he remained entangled with Aniston despite having Winona as his official girlfriend. It was said that at a party at his house, the two women met unexpectedly. Although there was no outright conflict, there was inevitably a war of words between them.

Although Dennis didn’t know the specifics, according to what he disclosed, Winona had cried a lot afterwards, a heartbreaking scene for any listener; yet Aniston was equally upset, asking him why, even after she had laid it all on the line, she couldn’t get a definitive response from him? Dennis, caught in the middle, truly felt torn.

As things stood, with none of the women by his side, and since Dennis was someone he had supported from the start, bringing him along was no big deal. So, he followed him to Japan as a sort of “refugee,” and even gave him a piece of advice.

“It’s simple, just take them both to bed.” That’s what Adrian had said, of course, only earning a wry smile from the other party.

“Yes, that’s Tokyo airport outside,” Adrian said, unbuckling his seatbelt and standing up to stretch as the first-class flight attendant took out their carry-on luggage and handed it to the company representative who had come to follow him.

Soon, the three of them passed through the VIP corridor to the outside, where a middle-aged man, close to forty, with an Eastern face, dressed in a suit, and acting very respectfully, was already waiting.

“Hi, Sugigi-kun,” Sam Wood, the company representative, greeted him from a distance.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr. Wood,” the man replied politely, bowing slightly, his English fluent and standard, before turning his attention to Adrian.

“This is Mr. Adrian Cowell, and this is Mr. Dennis Knight,” Wood immediately proceeded with the introductions.

“It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Adrian,” after shaking hands with Dennis, Sugigi suddenly gave a deep bow to Adrian.

Adrian immediately raised an eyebrow, although he knew that the other party was certainly aware of who he was, wasn’t this a bit too enthusiastic?

After arriving in downtown Tokyo and checking into the hotel as the evening came on, their Japanese contact Sugigi Takuya took his leave, and after Adrian, Dennis, and Wood had a quick meal at the hotel, they promptly returned to their rooms.

After taking a hot shower, Adrian wrapped himself in pajamas and came to the floor-to-ceiling windows, where the Tokyo skyline was a kaleidoscope of colors under the night sky. Neon lights flickered everywhere, reminding him of various nicknames Japan held, which made him chuckle softly to himself. Even though Japan was prone to earthquakes, there were still quite a few tall buildings in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

He let out a sigh and stretched languidly before drawing the curtains and sitting down on the sofa to turn on the TV. However, Adrian forgot that the programs were all Japanese dramas, and he didn’t understand any of it–not that he couldn’t understand. Some Japanese pronunciations were very similar to English, and with enough exposure, he could probably guess what was being said. But it was this half-understanding that annoyed him the most; he was in no mood to play a guessing game.

After changing channels a few times and chuckling to himself, Adrian immediately turned off the TV and began flipping through the materials Sugigi Takuya had given him in the car. Due to jet lag, he wasn’t sleepy at all, so he thought it better to plan his upcoming schedule. To be honest, when he had asked Laverne if there was someone in Japan he could contact, he had never expected the recommended Sugigi Takuya to be a Sony department manager.

They really knew how to seize an opportunity. Adrian stroked his chin, recalling Sugigi’s expression and attitude in the car when he had picked him up. Trusting Laverne, he didn’t inquire about the latter’s profession, thinking he was only there for a vacation–to rest and to irritate the Japanese a bit. He had not foreseen Sony getting involved.

“Really, had I known, I wouldn’t have bothered pretending to survey the Japanese market.” Adrian said with a wry smile as he scratched his head.

The PC version of “Resident Evil” was released in January because of Adrian, and the Japanese version was also launched simultaneously. Also because of him, the game remained largely unchanged. The character images, however, were slightly altered due to the different aesthetic perspectives of Western staff, though the live-action cutscenes were crafted even more beautifully.

Thanks to spot-on marketing, coupled with the original novel’s decent sales and the game’s innovative play style, it quickly became a hot seller; that was true for Japan as well. However, Blizzard, or rather the studio formerly known as Silicon & Synapse, which split and merged with the gaming division Pixar had shut down, didn’t have a branch in Japan. So, at Adrian’s vile suggestion, the Japanese distribution was handed over to Capcom.

Every time he thought about this, Adrian couldn’t help but want to burst out laughing, wondering what Mikami’s reaction would be after seeing the game. According to representatives from the studio to Capcom, it seemed some internal conflict had occurred within Capcom during the game’s release days. It was a pity he didn’t get to witness it firsthand.

So taking advantage of his current free time, he had used the excuse of surveying the Japanese market to get here. He would take his holiday while seeking out contacts and striving to obtain adaptation rights to play another prank on the Japanese. This may seem pointless, and whether a direct adaptation would have a market was also uncertain. But what did it matter? With his status, if he couldn’t do as he pleased on certain matters, what was the point?

But Adrian hadn’t anticipated that the person Sony sent to greet him in Japan would be one of their own, which was quite amusing.

He could roughly guess what Sony was thinking; since they had bought Columbia, they had suffered continuous losses due to Americans looking down on them and their ignorance of the rules, coupled with poor personnel decisions. The CEO had caused a loss of 2.7 billion US dollars alone. Even for a conglomerate like Sony, such losses weren’t easy to digest.

Although the situation stabilized somewhat after the appointment of a new CEO following the predecessor’s resignation, Columbia’s performance still remained lackluster, never managing to turn things around. So naturally, Sony wanted to set their sights on Adrian.

To date, everyone knew the Miracle Director had a sharp eye for hits. The film companies he had worked with, like Universal, Warner, and Fox, had produced many commercially and critically successful films. Naturally, Sony wanted to establish a connection with him, hoping for a script that could reverse their fortunes. But among Hollywood’s big seven, even as AC Media and Disney were not getting along, they had worked together in the past; only Columbia and MGM had no ties to him.

MGM’s situation was well understood by all, and Adrian, being a man with a clean slate, was not involved. But why was he so indifferent towards Columbia?

Faced with this, Sony found it puzzling but knew they had to seize the opportunity. When such a chance presented itself, they had to capitalize on it extensively. (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (wuxiaworld.site) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)